Department of Defense

Sweeping Modernization

In August 2018, Vice President Mike Pence on behalf of the White House announced the rollout of Space Force. The Space Force will become the sixth branch of U.S. armed forces and the first new military branch in over 71 years. A report prepared by the Department of Defense (DoD) outlines the pillars for a “unified approach to secure U.S. space leadership” and the steps to implement the new branch, including “ . . . anchor development initiatives to the modernization priorities outlined in the National Defense Strategy.”

The birth of the “Space Force” is representative of the DoD’s expansive effort to strategically invest in future technologies. As further testament to this focus, in early 2018 the Pentagon created an Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering to oversee prototyping, experimentation, tech transition, and tech development as well as the allocation of resources of research and the unification of research efforts.

New Capabilities. Novel Approaches.

The DoD’s prolific modernization push is not merely a matter of equipment upgrades, but moreover far-reaching Department-wide development of new capabilities and novel approaches to unearthing those capabilities through accelerated innovation. The Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and the Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) – an offspring of the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) – all illustrate the DoD’s steadfast commitment to elevating its inventiveness and ingenuity with the aim of fast-tracking solutions to urgent national defense problems.

On the high performance computing (HPC) front, the High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) has provided a vast gamut of HPC solution services and support since its inception in 1992. However, as the emphasis on expeditious innovation has deepened, the need for the type of iterative modeling design that only HPC can deliver has become of paramount interest.

Advancing Simulation and Predictive Modeling

Advanced HPC has been on the fore of helping CIOs, Fortune 500 lab stewards, researchers, scientists, product developers and system administrators take strategic advantage of completely integrated, model-based design. We understand the value of using modeling for critical needs like front-end weapons system development, preparing aircraft for overseas deployments, wind tunnel simulation, combatting terrorism and even long-range weather forecasting for military and humanitarian operation planning.

We further appreciate that the HPC and IT solutions we deliver must help DoD stakeholders balance operational efficiency with the ability to successfully accomplish missions and deliver expected constituent services. Inherent in that effort is making sure that we provide innovative solutions that enable our DoD customers to adapt and implement new technologies in a cost-effective manner that assures the utmost in performance, value and failsafe cybersecurity.

Advanced HPC: Enabling DoD Digital Transformation

While we certainly aim to be of value to DoD decision-makers in strategically replacing aging legacy systems, on a broader level we want to help DoD overseers to modernize IT infrastructures enough to take full advantage of truly transformative technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, deep learning, Big Data and the Internet of Things, among others. As such, we have carefully shaped our solutions and services offering to empower our DoD customers to fully benefit from emerging future technology by:

• Adhering to the DFARS 252.204-7012 cybersecurity clause and align with the latest recommendations as articulated in the recently released MITRE “Deliver Uncompromised” report. When it comes to cyber and supply chain security, we recognize that mere compliance is not enough.
• Facilitating strategic, high ROI-driven investment in DoD research, development, testing, and evaluation to assure the utmost in military readiness.
• Leveraging the tested, proven and commercially viable HPC, AI, machine learning, deep learning, big data and IoT solutions we have delivered to premier enterprise, life science, Federal Government and higher education customers. For example, we demonstrate to customers how to build and manage robust frameworks for AI using:
  • performance-packed graphic processing unit (GPU) technology from Advanced HPC Elite Partner, NVIDIA, and . . .
  • the very latest in processor innovation from Intel, yet another Advanced HPC Elite Partner.
• Applying the verification and validation best practices that we have employed in the private sector to execute DoD assignments.
• Inviting customers and their teams to conduct comprehensive virtual testing and troubleshooting via our state-of-the-art on-premises HGST Lab at Advanced HPC. Our solution architects and engineers collaborate with peer engineers from across the country and around the world to coordinate extensive benchmarking and performance reviews of a complete range of solutions and products.

Advanced HPC is not only cognizant of the DoD’s holistic HPC and AI modernization drive, but we also have a firm grasp on the process to get there – and the important probing discussions to have along the way.

Case Studies